


Unusual things are bound to happen when you go out at midnight to buy a burger in a Star Wars onesie - by Fall Out Boy

by Moosey_Winchester



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Bookworm Castiel, F/M, Famous Dean, M/M, Musician Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-02-27 15:01:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2697248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moosey_Winchester/pseuds/Moosey_Winchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes you've just got to don a Star Wars onesie and wait for the world to work some magic.</p><p>[Where dean is a famous band member and Cas is an unknown fan]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Glittery Vans and Burgers at Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> I thought of this first part whist trying to get to sleep and then I had to write it ;) I hope you enjoy it, I'm actually really pleased with it for once, it's only my second fic (and I'm only a couple of chapters into my first anyway) and have some ideas for how it's going to pan out :) 
> 
> (I did the title and then it was so long I felt I was morally obliged to add 'by fall out boy' on the end ;) it kinda fitted really well actually cause Dean's in a band. What are the chances?!

Dean flopped down onto his bed, he was bored and restless. It was one of the side effects of being a touring musician, the few rare nights of relaxation you got felt strange and alien. On most tour nights he got to bed at about 2 or 3 in the morning once they'd got through the meet and greet, the photos and the actual performance. Travelling always took up a lot of time too, especially in big cities where it probably would have been quicker to walk had the streets not been swarming with fans. Tomorrow they would be performing again after a two day rest, Dean was looking forward to it. The other band members and production crew had partners, family and children to visit and spend time with. Dean had no significant other and he already spent nearly every waking minute with Sam, who was catching up with his girlfriend Jessica anyway.

The TV flicked between programmes as Dean scrolled through the channels, nothing much had changed since he'd checked twenty minutes ago. Netflix was no better, that was what had kept Dean from mind numbing boredom last night, and consequently he was suitably caught up on the few TV shows he made time to watch. A loud stomach rumble echoed through the quiet suite, Dean had ordered room service early at 5 o'clock and it was now almost midnight. An advert for some chain burger house came on the muted TV, Deans stomach rumbled again in reply. If only room service was twenty four hours, ignoring how horrifically impractical that would be he would kill for a burger right now. No doubt there would still be plenty of restaurants and vans open still, the hotel was right in the city centre after all, but Dean couldn't bring himself to get changed into actual clothes again. He’d opted for comfort rather than style with his pyjamas, not anticipating that he might want to leave his hotel room. What would all his fans think if they saw him now: hair ruffled and shamelessly wearing a Star Wars onesie complete with little Yoda ears on the hood. In all honesty it would probably make their night, and spawn some... interesting fanfiction. Yes he knew about the fanfiction, a question interviewers asked him concerningly often. He'd even read a few and, despite the fact he was definitely not in a secret romantic relationship with any of the other band members, he had to admit some of the storylines fans came up with we're pretty cute. He'd only read about three though, he wasn't some weirdo obsessed with reading fanfic about himself. Especially when there was a lot of it that made him question the innocence of the young teen population.

Dean stood up and went to the window, opening it and breathing in the cool night air. He never tired of looking out across cities at night. He loved seeing all the lights and hearing the hum of people still going about their business. It was impossible to feel alone in a city, there was always someone wandering the streets, restaurants open, music playing. Dean could remember the first city he'd properly been to, on their first ever tour. He'd walked back up to his room, still full of adrenaline from the performance and after-party, unable to wipe the huge grin off his face. The room was on the top floor and a small balcony jutted out over the street. He'd sat down on it, sliding his legs between the metal bars so his feet dangled down over the street below. No one looked up at him and nobody knew he was there, he was just another part of the city. Dean had stayed sat there until, despite it being a warmish night like tonight, his fingers had gone numb and his eyes were beginning to droop with sleep. He felt like he'd finally found his place in the world and knew he'd struggle to comfortably return to the quiet town of Lawrence that he grew up in. Dean closed the window, smiling at the memory. He was now even more anxious to get outside his hotel room, explore the city, feel that same sense of awe as before. What was the point of being a famous musician if he held back from things? "Screw it" he said aloud "I'm going to go out and grab myself a burger" Dean grabbed his shoes from where he'd kicked them off by the door and sat down on one of the silk chairs to do up the laces. Once he'd finished tying them he stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. His limited edition glittery vans, a pair of shoes he'd been bought as a joke but had since grown on him, went surprisingly well with the Yoda onsie... Something he never thought he'd say. After ruffling his hair a bit to try and make it look like his bed-head was intended, Dean turned off the TV and left the room, grabbing his wallet, phone and room key as he went.

The few people who had stayed behind and weren't visiting family for one reason or another were spread out across the hotel, Dean was the only person from the team on his floor and so was able to sneak along the corridor without being noticed. He pushed the button and waited as a lift whirred its way up from the 4th floor. Unsurprisingly the doors opened to reveal it was empty, there weren't many people going anywhere at 12 o'clock at night: the people who were out would stay out for a while yet and the people who were staying in weren't likely to leave their room until the hotel started serving breakfast. Dean hit the button for the ground floor and waited as the lift began its decent. There was a side door at the back of the hotel for celebrities so they could leave without being harassed by paparazzi, and Dean, as well as the other band members, had been shown it on their first night there. They had each been given a special key card that would open it for them and as of yet Dean hadn't used his. There would be no paparazzi issues at this time of night but the hotel was a fancy one that frowned upon people wearing old casual clothes in the lobby, let alone people wandering down in their pyjamas. Dean laughed to himself; everyone had romanticised ideas of stars sneaking out a secret back door wearing dark sunglasses and being whisked off in a waiting car before any paps knew what was happening... And here was Dean using it to sneak out in a onsie to grab a burger. The lift pinged as it reached the ground floor and Dean tiptoed out, two lefts and a right took him to the door and he swiped his card and stepped out into the night air, it was a refreshing change from the faint perfumed scent of the hotel. There was a small square with some benches a few minutes down the road and Dean started heading in that direction. It was a fairly quiet night (well, as far as 'quiet' goes in the middle of a big city), he passed a couple of clubs spilling out music onto the street and a there was one guy throwing up into a drain. There was still the usual milling of people though: couples out for a meal, nurses heading to work, students with nowhere better to be. Dean had put his hood up to avoid being recognised and no one even looked twice at him, you saw stranger things every hour during the day so a guy wearing glittery shoes and a Yoda onsie wasn't even worth a second glance. Dean skipped across the road onto the square, as he had hoped there was a burger van in one corner. When he came closer he could see the person inside was a boy who looked slightly younger than him, 20/21 ish. He had (intentionally) messy, hair and was wearing black skinny jeans and a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt under his apron. Dean smiled at the Tshirt as he stepped under the vans canopy, pulling his hood down.

"Suprised to see you're still open this late" Dean said, quickly skimming over the chalkboard menu behind the boy.

The boy stood up, grabbing the burger flipping tongs off the counter behind him. Suddenly he went completely still as he looked up at Dean, finally moving only to bring a hand to his mouth to stop himself gawping.

"Are you... Dean Winchester?" He asked quietly once he'd got over the initial shock. Dean smiled, despite the late hour it was always nice to meet fans on a one-to-one basis, you actually got to properly talk to them and get to know a bit about them rather than just a quick hug and signature.

"Guilty as charged" Dean replied. The boy was visibly holding back from full on freaking out and he eventually took a breath and seemed to calm down.

"What can I get for you?" He said before blurting out: "I really like your band by the way and I think you're amazing and it's my dream to meet you and I'm kind of having an internal melt down right now about it and I just wanted to say that so yeah sorry I'm being such a fangirl what did you want to order?"

Dean chuckled, there was something endearing about this guy, the way he stumbled over his words, still trying to be polite even though it was obvious Dean was one of his favourite celebrities.

"I'll just have a quarter pounder cheeseburger please". Dean dropped a five dollar note onto the counter. "Keep the change" he said. The boy turned away, blushing as he fumbled with the cash register. "Do you get many customers after midnight?" He asked, leaning against the side of the van. The boy shook his head.

"No one usually wants to work a night shift so customers never know when we're gonna be here" he busied himself moving the burger around the hot plate a bit, grabbing the cheese, slicing open a bun. Dean looked out across the square.

"What's your name by the way?"

The boy turned back towards Dean, wiping his hands on his apron. "Cas. Well, Castiel. Novak".

Dean smiled. "Nice to meet you Cas. I don't suppose you've got an extra seat back there? I've got a couple of hours to kill and it would pass quicker if I had someone to talk to"

Cas' eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Yeah sure" he gestured to his right, nearly tripping over his own chair as he scrambled to unfold the spare one. Dean grinned to himself again and pulled open the side door of the van. It was smaller than he'd thought, had it been busier Dean would have stayed outside but it was unlikely that Cas would have many more customers. Dean settled down into the fold-out metal chair and Cas busied himself putting together Dean's burger, trying to avoid elbowing Dean in the face as he did so.

"So um..." He said, handing Dean the finished burger "would you mind taking a picture with me? And maybe signing something? You don't have to, you're probably fed up with people asking but it would really mean so much" Cas sat down on his own chair and fiddled with his apron ties as he spoke. Dean looked at him, tilting his head slightly.

"Aren't you going to the concert tomorrow?" Cas seemed like a pretty big fan (slight understatement) so Dean'd assumed that he'd be going to see them perform tomorrow. Cas' smile fell slightly.

"No, I wanted to so badly but I didn't have enough money. That's why I'm working nights in a burger van, saving up to hopefully go to the nearest concert I can find when I have the money." Dean frowned, he hated thinking about the fans that couldn't and probably wouldn't ever get to a concert. He knew how much it meant to some of them, to see your idol in real life, the person or people you've clung to in your darkest moments and ran with in your happiest. If he was entirely honest it hit Dean a bit too close to home. Memories of working 12 hour shifts and begging his dad for money so he could go and see Pink Floyd and Nirvana in '94, desperatly saving up for months to see half of Led Zeppelin in '95 and '98, doing the same again to see AC/DC in '95. He'd managed to make it to Pink Floyd, AC/DC, and the '98 Page & Plant. Missing Nirvana was still a sore spot for Dean because it had turned out to be their last tour before Kurt Kobain... Yeah, just better to not bring it up in conversation with him.

Dean tried to hide his grin as he looked up at Cas, an idea had just sprung into his head. "What was it you wanted me to sign?" He asked casually, looking around for a pen to use. Cas turned and began rummaging around in a small, galaxy patterned rucksack which sat behind him, pulling something out and handing it to Dean. It was an old, well loved copy of 'Slaughterhouse 5' with a green cloth cover and yellowing pages. "You read Vonnetgut?" Dean asked, flipping the cover open and scanning through a few pages. They were all covered in what at first looked like normal annotations but when he looked closer Dean saw they were little notes completely unrelated to the story: 'It's raining', 'Buy Gabe birthday card', 'Today was good'. There were parts of the actual novel highlighted too, the page was a rainbow of different colours from each time Cas had read the book, some sections had also been underlined in blue.

"A bit, I'm not like a crazy fan or anything, it's just Slaughterhouse 5 really, it's my favourite book... as you can probably tell" he looked shyly at his hands, clearly a bit uncomfortable with Dean reading his notes and highlighting. Dean flicked back got the front of the book, stopping on the title page.

"This okay?" He asked, flipping the book round to face Cas, who nodded. Dean uncapped the pen and hunched over the book. "No looking" he said jokingly, motioning for Cas to close his eyes. Cas did so reluctantly, attempting to peek through his fingers before Dean caught him as made him turn around. Dean quickly but neatly wrote out his message and closed the book, slipping something from his wallet inside the cover as he did so. "You can turn back now" he said to Cas who eagerly span back around and sat down on his chair again. Dean placed the book on the counter next to them and batted Cas' hand away when he tried to take it "Don't look yet, it'll spoil the surprise" Cas raised his eyebrows but didn't reach for it again. "So, what do you do when you're not reading about the wonderful adventures of Billy Pilgrim?"

They spent the next couple of hours comfortably chatting, taking a few selfies and discussing the past few days. Dean told Cas how he was the only one left at the hotel besides the occasional member of the production crew, Cas told Dean about how he was pretty sure he'd just failed a history test. Minus Cas having to get up and serve the odd group of people (whilst Dean tried to hide so he wouldn't be recognised, which consisted of holding the book directly in front of his face like the regular 007 he was) they both got so settled that they talked uninterrupted 'till three o'clock when Dean started yawning and Cas' phone went off with an alarm telling him his shift was over.

"Open it" Dean said, finally handing Cas his book back. They were stood outside the van, most people had gone home now and the streets and square were now even more deserted. Cas carefully flicked through until he reached the first page. Dean watched his eyes as they scanned over the words written there. 'Dear Cas, keep on being awesome! Also, how would you feel about a VIP ticket to our concert tomorrow? I've done my fair share of saving up for concerts in the past so I'd like to help a guy out ;) see you there'. Slotted between the pages was the spare VIP ticket Dean always kept in his wallet to give to one lucky fan on the day. He could make an exception this time. Cas looked up at him, book in one hand, ticket in the other and pulled Dean into a suffocating hug. Dean's heart nearly melted at the look of sheer unbelievable joy on his face.

"Thank you, oh my god thank you so much. I literally cannot tell you how happy I am right now you are THE most amazing person ever" Cas looked like he was about to faint or do something equally dramatic and Dean chuckled.

"Go home, get plenty of sleep, you've got a big day ahead of you" he winked, gently slapping Cas on the back. Cas smiled at him.

"I know this probably won't mean much because you hear fans say it all the time, but you're a really awesome person Dean. Even just chatting to you tonight, before you did this, I really enjoyed it. Thank you so much, again".

Dean turned around from where he'd started heading back across the square. "You know what? You too Cas, it's been fun". He waved at him and carried on walking back towards the hotel. He wasn't sure what else he'd expected really, unusual things are bound to happen when you go out at midnight to buy a burger in a Star Wars onesie.


	2. Man Blankets and Ice Cubes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a longish time, I got stuck for several weeks on what t-shirt Dean was wearing of all things ;)

Dean woke up the next morning to Sam pounding on the front door of his suite.

"Dude get up, breakfast stops in half an hour and then we've gotta get down to the stadium". Dean groaned and rolled over onto the cool sheets next to him, the cold slowly helping wake him up.

"I'm awake Sammy" he mumbled into the duvet.

"Well get up then. I didn't wake up at 8 and leave Jess just to sit around waiting for you to get ready. Even Ash is awake and already packing"

Dean made a noncommittal grunt before crawling out from under the covers and grabbing his glasses from the bedside table. His vision wasn't particularly terrible, it wouldn't be so hard to go a day without glasses or contacts, but he tended to get slight headaches if he didn't wear either, and first thing in the morning before his eyes had properly woken up was always an interesting time visually.

"Bitch" he shouted through to Sam, who was still stood on the other side of the door. Dean heard the sound of a distant 'Jerk' as he closed the door to the bathroom and Sam headed back down the corridor.

After he'd finished showering Dean searched through his suitcase, grabbing a pair of blue jeans and an old guns n roses t-shirt; wardrobe would have his performance clothes ready for later so it didn't particularly matter what he wore as long as it was suitable for the signing. He stretched once more, shaking away the last of the sleep and yawning widely.

It was ten minutes before breakfast stopped serving when Dean arrived, slightly more awake having showered and put his contacts in but still not entirely with it. He went over to the buffet station and grabbed a few rashers of bacon and two slices of bread to make a bacon sandwich. The tour manager usually tried to make them all eat as healthily as possible (which was probably for the best, but there was still a childishness left in Dean that made him go 'ew' at the mention of anything green) so he wasn't about to start the day off without bacon if he could help it. Dean scanned the room to see if anyone else was still eating and caught sight of Jo alone on one of the tables, sleepily stabbing at a grapefruit. Today was their last day on the west coast before they flew east into central America and Washington. There was a short meet and greet before the performance this evening and a signing for fans with VIP tickets during the day.

"Bit tired?" Dean grinned, taking a seat next to Jo. She groaned in reply, taking a large gulp of coffee.

"Not even been awake an hour yet, give me a couple of days then I'll get back into the routine of living on 4 hours sleep each night." She winked at him and Dean chuckled. It was true. In between all the performances and parties and signings (not to mention the travelling), they all somehow managed to get by on less than 6 hours sleep each night and unhealthy amounts of coffee and red bull. It wasn't conventional but it was something you had to get used to when you were on the road.

"Looking forward to this evening?" Dean asked, taking a large bite from his sandwich. Jo nodded.

"I always love end of tour section performances, there's something extra in the atmosphere of it all. Anyway I'm feeling pretty confident about our song set as well so it should go fairly well. I might be a bit sleepy for the first few signings though" she grinned at Dean and put her fork down. "I'm absolutely stuffed".

"You've only eaten half a grapefruit!" Dean screeched incredulously. Jo smirked and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry Deany, I pretty much cleared them out of chocolate croissants before you arrived". She slid out of her seat and headed towards the door, placing her half eaten grapefruit in the bin on the way out. Dean quickly scoffed the rest of his sandwich before heading back over to the elevators and his own hotel room.

There wasn't much that needed packing, Dean had learned long ago that it wasn't worth pulling everything out of his suitcase only to have to spend an hour repacking it all a couple of days later. He went methodically round the room, picking up stray belts and shoes, digging socks out from the end of his bed where they ended up after he took them of at night. Moving into the bathroom he grabbed his shampoo and toothbrush, throwing a nearly empty bottle of shower gel into the shiny metal bin. Dean made a mental note to pick up more at some point; as pretentious as it sounded he’d found it wasn't good to keep swapping brands all the time, which was what happened if he used the small bottles the hotel provided. Early on in their first tour Dean had spent about 3 weeks itching furiously until Jo had explained what was probably causing the problem. Dean had mumbled something about women problems but had taken her advice none the less and hadn't had any issues since. There were a few more random bits and pieces scattered around the room which threw carelessly onto the growing suitcase pile. He swept up his onesie from last night, smiling as he remembered meeting Cas at the burger van. If he was entirely honest, Dean was kind of looking forward to seeing Cas at the signing, even if it was only for a few seconds. It was a shame everyone was flying out tonight really, they could have met up quickly for a coffee or something silly before Dean left, just to see what Cas thought of the concert. It was strange, he felt weirdly under pressure to do a good job. Obviously he tried his best for every performance, but he didn't normally spend 3 hours sat in a burger van getting to know all the people in the audience. Dean checked his watch and started darting round the room a bit quicker, pulling on his shoes and attempting to force his suitcase shut. It took a few attempts but eventually it was zipped up and ready to go.

                                                                         *********************

Dean’s phone went off with the familiar intro of 'Smoke on the water' and he grabbed it off the wooden side-table, swiping Charlie's name across the screen.

"Hey Charles what's up?"

"Yo Dean Bean, I'm heading down to the lobby in a sec and the others just called saying they're nearly ready so, you good with meeting there in 10?" Dean looked around his nearly immaculate hotel room, mentally checking to make sure he hadn't left anything important,although it would be more of an inconvenience than a disaster if he had. Benny had somehow forgotten his whole suitcase in a hotel room once (Dean was still convinced, despite Benny's denial, that there must have been a lot of alcohol involved for this to happen) and they'd managed to have it dropped off that very day.

"Yeah that's cool. See you then" he ended the call and slid the phone into his pocket. It would probably take about 10 minutes to actually get down to the lobby and check out, everyone was heading out for the day and it would take ages for an elevator to arrive. Dean grabbed the leather jacket lying draped over his suitcase and pulled it on, the familiar smell making him smile. There were times when he'd desperately missed home or just a simple sense of stability (something that was hard to get while on tour) and he'd curled up in his jacket, breathing in the smokey, leathery smell. It was his comfort blanket. His man blanket.

Dean adjusted the collar of his man blanket and grabbed the handle of his suitcase, dragging it over to the door which he locked behind him. The corridor was busier today, there were a few crew members moving back and forth between each other’s rooms, confirming this and that, making last minute theoretical changes to the stage or schedule. He made his way over to the lift, exchanging the occasional nod with people as he went. It took a few minutes to arrive and when it did the doors opened to reveal a sleepy looking Ash, leaning in the handle of his own suitcase.

"Morning dude. God, it's been a while since I've said 'morning' and it's actually been morning. S'not right man, a dude shouldn't have to be up this early". Dean bit back a grin.

"It's half ten Ash, you're literally living the dream job-start-time wise." Ash gave an unconvinced grunt in reply and Dean chuckled. "Well I'm looking forward to being back on the road, I hate hanging around in hotels for hours while we're on breaks, makes me antsy." It was Ash's turn to laugh.

"You were born for the music business dude. Start dating someone, then you'll appreciate the breaks more." Dean smirked. 

"Of course that's your solution to everything, get laid and it'll work out". He got the middle finger in response.

"You know what I mean man... It's early, be grateful were having a semi-cogent conversation.

The lift doors opened to the lobby, Charlie and Sam stood with their suitcases over by a potted plant while Jo handed back her room key. Dean and Ash headed over to her and passed their own keys to the man behind the desk who thanked them and wished them luck for their performance. All five of them dragged their bags over to the large revolving doors at the front of the lobby before stepping out into the bright sunshine. They were met with bright camera flashes as various different members of the paparazzi tried to get a photo that was worth publishing. Dean pulled on some sunglasses and smiled obligingly. As long as they didn't excessively invade his privacy Dean was happy to make their task a bit easier. They were just regular people doing their jobs, paying their bills, putting their kids through school. Dean wasn't kidding himself, fame came with some expected things, and paparazzi was one of them. He even knew a few of the regular ones by name and they'd gained a mutual respect for each other. A porter scurried over to help them load their bags into the two cars. Dean ended up sat next to Charlie in one while Sam, Ash and Jo piled into the other.

"Morning Don" Dean called to the driver who tipped his cap at the two of them as he began to turn the car away from the curb.

"Morning Mr Winchester, Miss Bradbury".

"Good morning Don" Charlie replied, clicking in her seatbelt and wrestling her phone out of the back pocket of her trousers. It was only 5 or 10 minutes to the venue but with traffic it took them nearly half an hour. Charlie passed the time by dragging Dean into to a game of 'I spy' that didn't really work since they were in a moving car. After 'road', 'sky' and 'person' they began using more and more obscure objects inside the car until Don had to break up and argument about whether Charlie could physically _see_ the sub-atomic structure of oxygen or not.

They arrived at the venue just as the other car was pulling up; short metal barriers divided them from the fans that were already queuing for the evening's performance. Dean was met with screams as he stepped out of the car; Charlie jumped out beside him and was met with even more screams as she waved towards the mass of enthusiastic fans. It took them a good few minutes to make the short trip to the door because all five of them kept stopping to sign some of the things thrust in front of them, and Sam insisted on taking what seemed like a million selfies on various phones also being stretched out from the crowd. Once they'd made it inside, an assistant led them to a large room that contained several lounge chairs and a mini bar. Apparently this was the green room. In the early days of the band they'd spent time in some... interesting green rooms. Nowadays most of them looked something like this, but it varied depending on how big the venue was. Once in New York they'd been shown into a green room that had a legit diamond chandelier and a large chocolate fountain. None of them had felt too good before they went on stage for that particular performance. Dean smiled at the memory as he grabbed a can of coke from the mini bar and dropped himself into the nearest armchair. The others followed suit and they all sat in a comfortable silence for a minute or two before another assistant came in and told them that the signing would begin at 11. Dean checked his watch, they had 40 minutes, which would be 30 by the time someone had come to get them and they'd all settled in the signing room.

“Everyone feeling good for today?” Sam asked as he attempted (and spectacularly failed) to fold his ridiculously long legs into the blue Morris chair he was sat on. Everyone nodded, mumbling various positive sounding things in response. It had been a while since they’d done a signing, they usually only did them at bigger venues because otherwise there simply wasn’t enough space do it. Dean had always loved doing them, it was nice to actually meet the people listening to your music; yes you could just take a glance at any of their twitter followers to see how popular the band was, but sometimes that seemed too impersonal. It was like gazing out across a city as opposed to actually going down into the streets and talking to people there.

“Dean, on your feet man!” Jo held out a glass full of ice cubes which Dean took questioningly. He had a feeling he might have missed something whilst thinking about the signing and raised an eyebrow towards Jo.

“Jeez you’re still as much of a daydreamer as the day we met” She said, pretending to complain. Sam made a noise as if to say ‘Yeah, don’t I know about it’. “Try and get one into the bucket from as far away as possible, Ash is in the lead with 5 cans away”. Dean looked down to see that there were indeed cans stood on the floor at intervals from a metal bucket in the corner of the room.

“Oh” he said turning to face Ash “you’re going down man”. Ash grinned.

“Game on loser”.


	3. Yellow Submarines and Underrated Blueberries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter guys!! This one took a bit longer than I thought it was going to for various Christmas and laptop related reasons, but i've got the majority of the rest of the plot laid out now as well so it'll be easier to do each chapter :) ima try so hard to get the next chapter written and posted quicker but I also want to pass college if possible so you'll have to bear with me at some points ;) anyway, hope you enjoy it!! x

Dean stretched his legs underneath the wide table, his wrist was aching and he longed to get up and walk around for a bit. They'd been signing things non-stop for the past 3 hours and everyone was getting a bit twitchy. He sat up straighter in his seat and smiled at the next person, who was offering him a poster to sign. They exchanged a few words and Dean posed for a picture, pulling a silly face which caused the fan to laugh before hugging him and heading for the exit. There was only a small crowd left to get through, which was good because Dean wasn't sure he'd be able to play a single chord if this went on for much longer. He looked up as the next person shuffled along the table from in front of Jo and felt his mouth fall open as he saw a familiar face with black hair (which was just as stylishly messy as it had been the other night). In the busy-ness of the signing he'd forgotten Cas would be one of the people queuing up.

"Cas" he said, somehow managing to stumble over the one-syllable name. Cas was wearing a Beatles t-shirt with dark blue chinos and was carrying a vinyl copy of the band’s earliest album. Dean smiled, it had always been his favourite. That was probably very cliché but it wasn't actually the songs he liked (they were pretty good, but he wasn’t gonna deny they'd done some good ones since) it was the memories attached to them. They'd all been younger, clueless to adult responsibilities, simply writing songs and hanging on to dear life as they rocketed along to where they were now. Yeah they still partied crazily and were by no means old (Ash was the oldest at a grand age of 24, although he didn't act like it) but there had been something wild and raw and exciting when everything was new. Getting drunk for the first time, shortly followed by experiencing their first hangovers, first time skinny dipping, first kisses, first time doing shots, sleeping on hotel roofs under the stars, stealing a painting from a cinema lobby for Jo's birthday when they were still unknown enough to not be recognised. It was the kind of things teenagers did in movies and books and Dean had thought didn't happen in real life. He'd never publicly gone into detail about why the first album was his favourite, just mumbling something about 'good times' and 'raw music'. Cas smiled.

"Hello Dean" he said, sliding the vinyl record onto the table, being careful not to smudge the other 4 signatures already on there.

"Vinyl eh" Dean said, raising and eyebrow at Cas and grinning. Cas fiddled with his hands and glanced down at the record.

"I like vinyl better, it sounds nicer". Dean nodded.

"I'll agree with you there" there was a slight awkwardness there that hadn't been present the night before. Cas seemed like he didn't want to kid himself that Dean would want to talk to him again, Dean didn't want to seem creepy by being too friendly, and neither of them was sure how to act with so many other people around.

"So um" Dean scratched the back of his neck "you looking forward to tonight?” Dean swore a could literally see Cas' eyes light up with excitement.

"You could say that, it's only been one of my lifelong dreams since who knows when. Although without sounding creepy I actually do know precisely when". Cas grinned and then, realising how stalkerish that sounded, added "I have a kind of journal thing that I write stuff in, I'm not a crazy fan that's planning on kidnapping you or anything." Dean laughed as the earlier awkwardness dissipated and nodded towards Cas' T-shirt.

“‘I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did' '." He looked up at Cas and felt a warm glow inside when he saw that he was smiling back at him rather than looking confused.

"Never actually read it myself. Well, apart from that bit at least"

"Vonnegut and The Beatles, thought you must recognise it. You should read it, it's good" Dean said, fiddling with the Sharpie he'd been using to sign things. Cas looked to the left of him where there were 3 girls waiting for their turn with Dean. Dean fought to keep a grin of his face as he noticed they'd been checking Cas out (who was completely oblivious to this and appeared more concerned that he was holding up the queue).

"I suppose I'd better go" Cas said, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice: this was probably the last time he'd get to speak to Dean. Dean frowned.

"I suppose you're right".

Cas picked up his record, the marker pen long since dried, and turned to leave. Suddenly Dean had an idea. "Wait!" Cas did a full 360 and came to face Dean again who uncapped his pen and gestured to Cas' hand, checking it was okay to write on him. Cas nodded and held out his arm obligingly. Dean took it, trying to avoid anything that resembled hand holding as he scribbled something down on Cas' palm before curling his fingers in over it.

Cas took his arm back and looked at Dean questioningly before once more turning away and walking towards the exit. When he was almost there he uncurled his fingers and looked down at what Dean had written. There was a mobile number followed by 'text me' and a little drawing of a submarine which, despite the fact it was drawn in black like the rest of it, Cas assumed must be another Beatles reference. He glanced back at Dean, who was too busy chatting with the three girls and signing their CD's to notice.

"Could you move along and not hang around in the signing area please" a woman in a blue shirt with STAFF written on the back gestured towards the doorway, smiling at him to make sure she didn't come across as rude. Cas stumbled through to the corridor outside and stood there for a minute or two, trying to get his head around what had just happened. Dean Winchester had just given him his number. He had Dean Winchester's number. Dean Winchester's personal mobile number was literally written on his hand right now. He pulled out his phone and took a photo of it before it had a chance to start rubbing off and added the number to his contacts as 'Dean Freaking Winchester' with a little guitar emoji. His finger hovered over the number, wondering if it would be too ridiculous if he sent him a text right now, just so Dean would have his number. Cas figured that it made sense, Dean had said 'Text Me' after all. He opened up a new message and added Dean's number before beginning to type.

*********************

Dean reached into his pocket to turn his phone on as they were all leaving the signing room, he always kept it off during signings and other things like that out of politeness. The sound of a stormtrooper gun (yeah he had quite possibly the nerdiest text alert noise in history but whatever) told him he had a message from an unknown number. He opened it, smiling as he realised who it was from. 'So we sailed up to the sun, ‘till we found the sea of green, and we lived beneath the waves, in our yellow submarine’. He hadn't been sure whether Cas would get that it was supposed to be a yellow submarine since he'd only had a black pen but apparently he needn't have worried. He tapped 'reply' and started typing, glancing up every few seconds to make sure he was keeping up with everyone and wasn't about to walk into a potted plant or something. 'So, are The Beatles your favourite band? Or someone else?' He pressed send and then went to add the number to his contacts, saving it as simply 'Cas' and a little burger emoji. It wasn't like he knew that many people called Cas. Dean pocketed his phone and, realising he'd fallen a bit behind, ran to catch up with the others.

Four hours later, having been through hair & makeup and visited wardrobe for their stage clothes, the five of them were just leaving the meet and greet room. Everyone was feeling pretty pumped, spending an hour inside a room full of people who idolised you tended to have that effect. Dean smiled as he adjusted his belt, he had an idea he wanted to broach with his tour manager and he hoped he'd be able to pull it off. Suddenly he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he pulled it out, trying to suppress a grin when he saw it was Cas messaging him. They'd been sending each other texts all afternoon, getting into a sort of extended game of 'best and worst' and consequently both now had a detailed, if not slightly bizarre, knowledge of each other’s favourite and least favourite things. Among other things Dean now knew that Cas loved strawberries but hated strawberry jam, loved cycling almost as much as he loved the Beatles (who were indeed his favourite band), knew that Cas favourite Beatle was George, he loved summer but hated spring, was allergic to pesto, was a cat person, his favourite ice cream flavour was vanilla (‘it's simplicity is what makes it so deliciously exquisite Dean’), and he secretly liked to binge watch The Weakest Link on rainy weekends when he couldn't be bothered to get out of bed. This particular text was asking Dean his opinion on blueberries: 'surprisingly moreish and somewhat underrated' Dean sent back. An assistant popped his head round the door to give them a 30 minute warning and was promptly hustled out the way by the tour manager Chuck who was making his way into the room.

"Hey Chucky I've been meaning to ask you something" Dean said, pushing himself up off the sofa and walking over to him.

"For the love of god please stop calling me Chucky, that film gave me nightmares. And this better not be bad news right before you're about to go on stage" Chuck raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"Don't worry, everything's fine" Dean assured him "I was just wondering if it would be possible for me to get a later flight tomorrow. See there's some stuff I need to do before we leave and I would so appreciate it if you could manage to sort something out Chuck. Please?" He did his best attempt at copying Sam's puppy eyes but Chuck have him a funny look so he quickly changed back.

"Do I even want to know what it is you 'need' to do?" Chuck asked, raising one eyebrow. Dean rolled his eyes.

"Dude it's nothing suspicious, I've... I just want to say goodbye to someone" his voice dropped quieter and he looked down at the floor.

"Is that so?" Chuck squinted his eyes at Dean "I know it's not my job to pry into your private lives... I'll see what I can do" he grinned at Dean before turning to leave "20 minutes people, 20 minutes".

Dean have a sigh of relief, Chuck was a great guy and they were all good friends with him but he also knew when it was important to keep a clear line between manager and friend. He crossed his fingers that he'd be able to get him a later flight, Dean had a plan for saying bye to Cas that obviously consisted of more than a 'bye, on the plane to DC, see you never' text.

"So, who'd you wanna say bye to? Has Deany Weany finally met someone?" Charlie made a suggestive face at Dean who made a mental note to ask Chuck things in private from now on. He couldn't exactly tell Charlie the truth, it wasn't like they went round giving their number to random fans all the time and Dean knew he'd never hear the end of it if he told her who he was really meeting.

"Something like that" Dean said, cringing at having to lie to Charlie. One of the most important things they'd found when travelling together was that lying never ended well. It was hard to hide stuff anyway when you spent hours travelling with the same four people, only to arrive and be given rooms in the same hotel and spend your free time practising on stage with those same four people; so trying to keep secrets inevitably ended badly. Dean didn't really have a choice in this case though, how could he explain the night at the burger van without sounding like a legitimate insane person?

"Ooooooh" Charlie said whilst Ash let out a wolf whistle. "So who's the lucky lady? Spill the beans, let the cat out of the bag." Dean flipped Charlie off with a grin.

"I haven't even known them that long and it probably won't even come to anything, and like hell am I telling you guys anything about it. " he felt his phone buzz in his pocket but didn't check it, it would be whipped out of his hands in two seconds with Charlie and Jo snooping through his texts.

"Ooh how mysterious" Ash joked, narrowly avoiding a punch from Dean. They all looked up as Chuck popped his head round the door.

"Right guys, up and ready to go onstage. All sorted by the way Dean" he added before flying out the door again to make sure the lighting crew were doing okay. Dean felt a little flame of excitement in his stomach, similar to the feeling you get as a kid on Christmas Eve. He was gonna give Cas an awesome goodbye, hopefully one so awesome that one day he'll be telling his grandchildren the story of when he met Dean Winchester and had one of the most awesome nights ever. And it will hopefully sound less wrong when he tells it.

They all stood up and made their way down the corridor, then down another, and another; as they got nearer to the actual stage the sound of the audience got louder and louder. Sam glanced at Dean and grinned, it never got old for them: walking out onto a stage surrounded by bright lights and a screaming crowd, playing your heart out and hearing the audience go wild. Nothing quite compared to having something you love doing appreciated by someone, let alone thousands of people. As they reached a grey door Ash stopped and turned to face them.

“God of Rock, thank you for this chance to kick ass. We are your humble servants. Please give us the power to blow people's minds with our high voltage rock. In your name we pray!”

“Amen!” they all shouted back. Quoting ‘School of Rock’ was a tradition that stretched way back to when they were still practicing songs in Jo’s garage. They’d all just seen the movie and Ash had jokingly shouted it at them as they walked back to Jo’s. Every time they'd performed from then on he'd the same, the rest of them loudly shouting ‘Amen’ in response. It felt like good luck but also helped keep them all grounded, making sure no-one got carried away with the fame and forgot why they started playing in the first place.

The door opened out onto the area beneath the stage and they all bustled round, following directions from two of the tech assistants until they were each standing in their designated spot.

"Five minutes to show time, five minutes people!" A voice shouted, only just loud enough to be heard over the noise. Dean pulled his phone out from his back pocket. 'Couldn't agree more' the reply from Cas said, Dean smiled opening a new message. 'You're not doing anything after the concert are you? I've managed to get a later flight and I want to meet up again to say bye, don't expect me to wear a onesie this time though ;)'. Dean didn't press send he just carefully held the phone down next to his leg, making sure he didn't touch the screen.

"Ready!?" One of the techs shouted and they all nodded. Dean could hear someone talking on a loudspeaker above him introducing the band, it was met with more screams and suddenly Dean felt the platform he was standing on begin to move. As the audience came into view the screaming reached new levels, paper confetti rained down on them and fireworks went off at the side of the stage, the lights were going crazy too. They all waved and Dean quickly snapped a picture of the crowd. Adding it to the message he finally pressed 'send' before pocketing his phone.

"Hello everybody!" He shouted, taking his place at the microphone and slinging his guitar strap over one shoulder. "How're y'all doing tonight?!" The crowd cheered. "That's awesome!" he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. "We're gonna start this with a song you all know, from way back on our first album!" More cheering. "Here goes" he said, strumming the first familiar chord on his guitar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you want to know: the book Dean is quoting about the Beatles is 'Timequake' by Kurt Vonnetgut


	4. Lucy in the Sky with Mr Brightside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so very long, I'm about as good at sticking to a posting schedule as Dan Howell is so please bear with me ;) But, this chapter is WAY longer than the others so that slightly makes up for it... possibly? Anyway I enjoyed writing this bit so I hope you like reading it :3 feel free to tell me if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes I've missed, it's late and even though I've double checked it I'll probably have missed something. I will TRY and get the next part up sooner but who am I kidding, I'm a perfectionist that gets easly distracted, could be a couple of weeks ;) x

Cas took a deep breath as he finally escaped the crowds leaving the stadium, feeling suddenly cold now he was away from the warmth of several hundred dancing college students and teenagers. The concert had been amazing, better than anything he’d imagined whilst daydreaming at work or when trying to fall asleep. They'd played a great variety of songs, several classic ones but also plenty from their new album; Cas wasn't usually one for dancing but wow... he'd danced all night, it was hard to avoid with that kind of atmosphere. He moved to the side as more people tried to jostle past him, everyone was eager to either get home or find their way to a club to carry in the party. Cas pulled out his phone and checked his messages: nothing yet. When he'd received the photo Dean took on stage he hadn't been able to stop himself bursting out laughing at how amazing it was. The whole crowd had seen Dean take it and assumed it was for twitter or Instagram; Cas had never expected to feel his phone vibrate with a message from Dean containing what was obviously the very photo thousands of people had just watched him take. Cas positively glowed just thinking about it. He'd replied straight away but, unsurprisingly, the message was still marked as unopened; Dean couldn't exactly pause the concert to check his phone, and they'd only just made it off stage. He wandered over to a nearby bench and sat down on it to wait. As if the surprise of receiving that photo hadn't been enough, Dean had told Cas that he'd got a new flight and now had time to say goodbye. Dean Winchester, whom he had just seen performing live in a massive arena in front of several thousand fans, had rearranged his flight times and was now specifically coming to say goodbye to him. No amount of pinching could convince Cas this wasn't some bizarre yet utterly awesome dream he had yet to wake up from. He'd already texted Gabe to tell him he'd be home late (well, early technically) and not to wait up. Gabe had told him to have a good time and be quiet coming back in ‘cause he wanted a lie in. Cas looked around him, a stupidly wide grin on his face. Everyone probably thought he was stoned or just a crazy man who liked to sit on benches at night smiling at people. Suddenly his phone started blasting out the intro riff of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Midnight’, it flashed up with Dean’s name and he swiped his thumb across the screen to answer it, suppressing the part of his brain that was saying 'Dean Winchester is calling you dude!! Are you gonna freak out for a second or not!?' 

"Hello?" Cas said, as if he had no clue who was calling. 

"Hey Cas" Dean said. "Where are you? We're nearly done here, I'm just saying bye to the others then I’ll be out". Cas bit the end of his thumbnail and leaned forward on the bench. 

"Hello Dean. I'm on a bench. Just outside the stadium exit. There's a tree and... some shops".

 

Dean chuckle in the other end of the line. "Great directions man. Um, it's not too busy there is it? I don't really wanna get mobbed is all" 

Cas glanced up. It was surprisingly quiet, everyone had left to go about their business pretty fast. He was nearly the only person there except for a small group of teenage girls waiting for a taxi and a student about his own age who was absentmindedly pacing up and down the sidewalk, talking to someone on the phone. 

"It's fairly quiet. There's a few people still here but nothing mob-worthy. But I don't have much experience in judging whether something is mob-worthy or not so don't blame me if you actually do get mobbed" Cas cringed inwardly, 'Hey there's a chance Dean understood some of that, wanna make it a bit more complicated?'. 

"Mob-worthy?" Cas could hear Dean trying to catch his breath from laughing. "It should be fine, I trust your judgement. If I get mobbed you get mobbed with me" Cas almost heard the wink in his voice. "'Kay I'm gonna go, see you in a minute". Dean hung up and Cas pocketed his phone again. A taxi pulled up and the group of girls got in, giggling as they did so. They were probably going home to tweet and instagram and facebook all about the concert, boasting how close to the band they got and fangirling at how awesome it had been. Cas agreed there, it had been awesome. He was hit with another wave of ‘oh my god what even is my life right now it can’t be real’. Everyone who’d been at the concert was going home to carry on with their lives or cruising the streets for somewhere to keep the party going. But Cas? He was sat on a park bench waiting for Dean Winchester, still blushing having just got off the phone with him. It was one of those things, Cas thought, that you simply shouldn’t think too hard about. Sometimes the world is so weird and amazing that the best thing to do is just roll with it, cling on for dear life and see where it takes you. He heard footsteps and looked up to see Dean walking towards him, he had changed into black jeans and a leather jacket, opting for a Blue Oyster Cult t-shirt this time and completing the look with a pair of dark RayBans that pretty much screamed ‘celebrity!’. He was also, Cas noticed, carrying a picnic basket. 

“Aren’t picnics a bit cliché?” Cas teased, standing up from the bench and walking over to meet dean.

“They’re cliché for a reason: cause they’re freaking awesome.” Cas smiled “Anyway” he added “it’s not gonna be your conventional ‘tartan blanket in the park’ kind of thing, Dean Winchester ain’t the kinda guy to follow a crowd” Dean joked, gesturing to himself. The guy across the road on the phone glanced round upon hearing Dean’s name but looked away again when he saw Cas, probably assuming they were just another couple of fans.

“Are those sunglasses an attempt at a disguise? ‘Cause they’re doing a rubbish job, you’ve picked pretty much the generic ‘celebrity trying to go undercover’ sunglasses. And in case you haven’t noticed: it’s night time.” Dean laughed and took them off.

“Well I wasn’t sure what to expect, someone informed me that it wasn’t ‘mob-worthy’ but what is that supposed to mean? It’s not even a real word” Cas punched him lightly and Dean stumbled across the sidewalk giggling. “But seriously, I’ve got an awesome night planned. Come on” he said tilting his head and striding off down the street. Dean might not be as tall as Sam but he was still pretty tall, something Cas had never appreciated having only seen him in photos standing next to his brother. 

They walked in silence along the street, Cas had a couple of excited butterflies in his stomach that wouldn’t settle down and he tried to distract himself by counting his footsteps. He was so engrossed in his counting that he nearly walked into Dean when he stopped walking. They were stood outside tall, old building and, on closer inspection, Cas could read the sign on the door saying ‘Student and Public City Library – Open 24 Hours’.

“Don’t know about you but I’m starving so… picnic first?” Dean held up the basket, glancing questioningly at Cas who nodded, giving an equally questioning look in return. “It’ll make sense in a second” Dean reassured him, heading towards the library doors as if was perfectly normal to take a picnic basket to a library. Cas followed, both reluctantly and curiously, interested to see what Dean was planning. And hey, when Dean Winchester says you’re going to a library for a picnic? You go. 

Once they were inside Dean headed straight for the elevators on their right and pressed the button to call one. When it arrived they both got in and Dean hit the button for the highest floor; the lift began moving upwards and Cas clenched his jaw at the unpleasant feeling of his stomach being left behind him. He was starting to get an idea of where Dean was taking him but quickly forgot it as the elevator doors opened. He took a sharp intake of breathe as he saw all the books, shelves and shelves of them, stretching out in rows that spanned the walls of the building. Old fabric bound ones, new shiny paperbacks, stacks and stacks of textbooks… Cas could get lost in here for days. It was a bookworms dream. Surprisingly he’d never spent that much time in the city, he lived on the outskirts anyway so it took a good hour to walk in, and once he got there it was always swarming with people. The amount of people didn’t bother him it was just the… busyness. He always felt he needed to find somewhere quiet to calm down for a bit, it was so easy to get caught up in the chaos of it all. But if this was what he was missing…? He followed Dean down one row of shelves, brushing his hand along the spines of the books as they walked past. There was a thick door in front of them which Dean pushed open, bending his arm back to let Cas through behind him.

“Those books were actually amazing” Cas whispered, glancing back through the doorway, not entirely sure why he was being quiet. Dean leaped up the staircase in front of them, taking two at a time so Cas had to almost run to keep up.

“Mmmm” he replied distractedly, too busy concentrating on not banging the basket on the stairs. They reached another door, this time metal with a lock on the inside. Dean undid the lock and pushed the door open. Cas found himself on the roof of the library, he’d suspected Dean was taking him up here but what he hadn’t predicted was the view. It was an almost completely clear night (something that didn’t happen often in the city) and Cas could see the stars, shining like hundreds of little aeroplanes in the sky. The moon was bright too, a little nightlight for the whole planet, and the city looked beautiful, a swathe of multi-coloured lights in the vast sea of blackness. Cas turned to Dean who was gazing out across it too.

“This is amazing Dean, you didn’t have to do this. I mean, we only met yesterday and obviously I think you’re awesome but you don’t have to do something so freaking jaw-dropping just for me. I’m just another average fan, nothing special” Cas looked at his shoes and immediately regretted saying anything, maybe he sounded ungrateful.

“I know no-one does this, but I think they should.” Cas looked up at him only to see Dean was staring down at his own shoes. “If you meet someone and think ‘I really like this person and want them in my life’ shouldn’t you be able to do something about that? Instead of letting people slip away thinking they were nothing special? Y’know? I just think everyone would be a lot happier if they did that” Dean mumbled and Cas shifted on his feet.

“I guess you’re right” he said. They both turned to gaze out across the city, an almost reverent silence settling on the roof.

“It’s pretty amazing isn’t it?” Cas breathed. Dean turned back around, smiling contentedly.

“Yeah”

**********************

The picnic WAS delicious, Dean had been very right about that. Cas withdrew his previous statement that picnics were 'cliché', admitting that they were in fact underrated rather than overrated. They'd sat there looking up at the night sky, trading random thoughts and opinions as they munched away on the food. Up there, way above the streets and cars, it felt almost timeless. As if they were the only people that meant anything amongst all the usual goings on of the world. Cas internally rolled his eyes, 'you're not a misunderstood book character, no need to be so damn poetic.' It was true though, there was an awesome sense of possibility, like he could finally see how amazing and unexpected the world was. They'd only been up there an hour, the food was so good it hadn't taken them long to devour most of it. Dean had persuaded the tour chef to give him a few leftovers from various meals that day, resulting in a delicious mix of random foods that all tasted amazing. 

“Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies” Dean’s voice sounded softer than it did up on stage, in a nice way. It sank softly through the air, tumbling through the cold towards Cas’ ears and down over the side of the roof. When Dean didn’t carry on Cas nudged him slightly with his elbow until he sang the next line. “Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly, a girl with kaleidoscope eyes”. Neither of them said anything for a few moments until Cas spoke up softly.

“That’s my favourite Beatles song”. Dean sat up and raised his eyebrows, prompting Cas to say more.

“It’s not for any particular reason” he said, placing his hands behind his head on the cold ground. “I just really like the imagery and the tune and…I don’t know there’s just something magical about it.” Dean smiled and Cas sat up to look at him. “What?”

“Nothing” he said, turning away to hide the grin that said otherwise. “You just have a really nice way of describing things… That’s probably the weirdest compliment ever but it’s true.” He added, the grin turning into an amused smirk. Cas smiled back.

“Sing the rest of it, you sound different off stage. In a good way” he added hastily, blushing. Dean let out a soft chuckle.

“Hand me a guitar and I’ll play you every Beatles song ever written”  
“But why not just sing it without? You can’t be shy you literally just played in front of several hundred people?” Cas squinted quizzically.  
“I know, but it’s different up there. There’s so many people that you don’t really think about it ‘cause it’s so ridiculous, you get distracted by the sheer energy of it all, and there’s 5 of us sharing the focus. I… I never really sing on my own to individual people. Well except the other band guys but that doesn’t really count. Having a guitar makes it a bit easier because it’s not just me singing.” Cas nodded.  
“I get that. You really shouldn’t be shy though, you sound amazing” Dean looked away again, blushing. “But you get told that every day I guess…” Cas continued, oblivious. Dean grunted in reply, not wanting to get into that discussion when this was supposed to be an awesome goodbye for Cas. They sat in silence as they finished off the last few bites of the picnic.

"Just gotta ask" Dean glanced at Cas "How old are you?" Cas' mind immediately ran through all the possible reasons for Dean asking this. Naturally he went to the most ulterior and equally unlikely possibilities first causing his cheeks to tinge pink. 

"I turned 21 in June" he stuttered out, sweeping a hand through his hair out of nervous habit. Dean must have noticed how weird Cas was suddenly being because be grinned kindly. 

"Chill out dude, I'm not planning on whisking you away to a hotel room for a night. This isn't the 70's. Although I'm totally up for that if you wanna?" He wiggled his eyebrows at Cas who simply rolled his eyes in response. "But seriously, I only needed to know whether our night could feature alcohol or not. Unless you don't drink or something? Which is totally cool." Cas let out a small laugh. 

"I am completely fine with alcohol. In fact, I've been working most of summer so... I have some to catch up on. Wait no, that makes me sound like an alcoholic. I just meant that if I hadn't been working so much I'd've partied more over summer. But since I didn't, even if I do tonight I'll still have drunk less than I would have if I wasn't working. If that makes sense?” God, Cas thought, at this rate he'd need a few drinks to make himself chill out and act like a normal person. Dean stood up and brushed the crumbs off his trousers. 

"Don't worry, I know what you mean. Hell, I'm a musician, you'll probably know better than I do that I've done my fair share of partying" Cas stood up as well and helped Dean fold the blanket, stuffing it in the basket with all the empty boxes and screwed up tin foil. 

“So” Dean said, after stowing the basket behind a skylight to collect later. “You ready for stage two of ‘Awesomely memorable goodbye for Cas’?” Cas tried to fight the insanely wide grin that was spreading across his face; he had a feeling that tonight wasn’t something he’d be forgetting any time soon. 

“Definitely” he said, nodding. Dean tilted his head towards the door that led back downstairs and the two of them made their way towards it.

Once they were stood in front of the library once more, Dean checked his watch. Because of the deliciousness of the picnic, and the speed at which they had consequently consumed it, there was now plenty of time before the sun rose and Dean had to leave for his flight. 

“Lead the way then, oh mighty ‘memorable goodbye’ planner” Cas said, spreading his arms wide towards the street before them. Dean jabbed him in the stomach playfully and began walking further into the city. 

After walking for several minutes they reached a modern looking bar/club, brimming with people dancing and drinking and laughing. Dean held the door open and Cas walked in, smiling a thank-you at him. The room was filled with loud dance music, (the kind that pretty much all sounded the same after a few drinks) and there were multi-coloured strobe light sweeping erratically across the room. Cas had ever really been into an actual club. He was 21 so there was nothing legal stopping him, he’d just ever really thought about it. That wasn’t to say he’d never been to any parties or got drunk; he’d nursed his fair share of hangovers, not to mention aching muscles from dancing or sleeping in uncomfortable positions, it was just that him and his friends preferred to go to the beach or the woods or meet at someone’s house rather than go to a stuffy club where they charged you $5 for a beer. He didn’t even like beer that much. 

A couple got up from their spot at the bar and Dean dived in behind them, grabbing the seats before anyone else had a chance to sweep in.  
“How do you feel about shots?” he asked, turning to face Cas once they were both sat down. Cas smirked.

“Hit me up, if we’re trying to make this ’awesomely memorable’ then we may as well go the full monty.”

“My thought exactly” Dean said, grabbing the attention of one of the bartenders. Cas looked around the room, there were a few tables near the bar but the majority of the room was occupied by people dancing. There were a few that looked as though they’d benefit from a sit down with a sick bucket, but most of them seemed to be this side of the ‘comfortably drunk’ line. Although no doubt a few of them would have trouble recalling the night’s events when they woke up. Cas grinned, he loved seeing people letting their hair down and having a good time, it reminded him to not take life too seriously. 

The bartender appeared and placed 12 shots in front of them before darting off to take someone else’s order. 

“Okay” Dean grinned. “Let’s make this interesting. How about we take it in turns to ask each-other something and you have to answer without hesitation. Hesitation equals a shot, so does taking too long to think of a question. We should be able to get through these pretty quick” he said, gesturing to the tiny glasses of clear alcohol lined up next to them.

“Game on” Cas said, flexing his hands dramatically “You go first”.

“Okay… favourite season?”

“Fall. Favourite Guns n’ Roses song?”

“As mainstream as it is: Sweet Child O’ Mine. Favourite Pink Floyd album?”

“Division Bell. Favourite book?”

“To Kill a Mocking Bird. Cats or dogs?”

“Cats. Orange juice with pulp or without?”

Dean faltered, stumbling over his words in a hurry to answer.

“You lose! Take a shot!” Cas gloated, sliding one towards Dean who downed it without even flinching.

“Seriously what kind of a question even was that?” he asked “Who spends their time deciding what juice they prefer? It’s all just juice.” 

Cas rolled his eyes. “I do. Pulpless is far superior.” 

Dean shook his head fondly before continuing the rapid fire questions. “Favourite member of The Fellowship?” There was a moment of silence before Dean grinned and gestured towards the shots. Cas scowled but took one anyway.

“I wasn’t ready” he said, putting the glass to his lips and making a face as the taste hit him. “You got rum shots? Who the hell drinks rum? We’re not pirates Dean, I was expecting tequila or something not freaking coconut flavoured rum” Cas found himself laughing at how peculiar it was, he’d only drank one shot so far and he was already crying with laughter.

“Oh shut up” Dean said with a grin “It’s your turn to ask a question.”

Over the next 45 minutes they worked their way through the other 10 shots until there were 12 empty glasses lined neatly along the bar with two giggling men sat on stools next to them.

In the end it had been almost a draw, but Cas had won by a single shot. That didn't mean he was any less drunk than Dean however. In fact, Dean was probably the more sober one, having built up a stronger alcohol tolerance from years of after parties and general teenage rockstar highjinks.

Dean poked Cas in the leg. "C'mon, let's go dance for a bit". He ordered them a beer each (Cas was drunk enough to not care about the taste of it) and they took a couple of sips before heading over to the swarm of dancing bodies. The DJ had started playing a more varied set, throwing in a few well-known classics as well as the generic dance songs. Cas wasn't usually one for dancing but it only took a bit of alcohol for him to warm up to it, so after 5 shots of rum and some beer he was really throwing himself into it. Dean was equally enthusiastic, enjoying the rare chance to have fun without having to constantly check himself for fans and paparazzi. Whilst they were taking a beer break, and Dean was in the toilet, Cas walked over to the DJ, leaning over to shout something in his ear. The man nodded, holding up a finger to say he'd do it once this song was over. Cas returned to where he had been standing and resumed sipping at his beer. The song had almost finished when Dean walked back over to Cas who took a final gulp of beer before dragging Dean into the middle of the room. He turned to him and grinned, standing close so he could be heard over the tail end of the dubsteppy mix. 

"I asked the DJ to play a song for you, It's the least I can do after the picnic and... Well, everything" 

Dean frowned. "You don't owe me anything Cas, this is supposed to be saying an awesome goodbye to you" 

Cas patted Deans arm "I'm gonna miss you too you know" be said, just as the song ended. Dean’s face flickered for a second before a massive grin overtook it as he recognised the opening at of the song. 

Comin’ out of my cage and I've been doing just fine... 

It was a bit of a change from what had been playing all night but it was met with screams and whistles by all the other dancers so Cas took that to not be a bad thing. 

"You freaking remembered that passing comment from the burger van?" Dean shouted during the instrumental section when he was no longer belting out the well-worn lyrics. 

Cas smiled and nodded, staring at Dean as he got drawn back into the song. It was funny how different he looked dancing here compared to what he looked like when performing. It was like they were two different people: Concert Dean was like vodka and fire and loud music whereas this Dean was like smoke and clinking cider bottles and sprinting through the cold night air to get home before your curfew. Both were electrifyingly alive and Cas found himself awestruck for a moment as be realised that there probably weren't many people who saw both sides of Dean like this. 

The song ended and Dean dragged Cas over to the table with their beers on, pulling him into a sloppy-drunk hug. 

"Man I can't believe you were actually paying attention when I said that the other night, that was so freaking awesome dude"

Cas chuckled "Well Dean Winchester had just appeared and invited himself into my burger van, I mean, if that happens you're gonna pay attention to what he says". 

Dean laughed. "Come on, finish your beer, it's time for stage 3". Cas swallowed the last few mouthfuls of his drink and followed Dean out into the night. The air felt almost cold after the heat of the club and Cas' ears were suddenly assaulted by the quietness of the street. The music had now become a steady thumping sound and they both had to take a moment to get their bearings and adjust to the new environment.

"Walk this way" Dean said, heading left with a slight, barely noticeable stagger. 

"Talk this way" Cas added with a giggle, following in a considerably less elegant fashion. After a few hundred yards Cas nearly walked into a fire hydrant… for the 3rd time, narrowly avoiding it at the last second when Dean yanked him out the way. 

"You're gonna break your face in a minute" Dean joked, aggressively taking Cas' hand. Somewhere far back in Cas' conscious brain he registered that he was holding hands with Dean Winchester, but both of them were too drunk to see it as anything but a logical way of keeping eachother upright. Dean slowed down, steering them into a mini-supermarket which was advertising glazed chicken in the window. A middle-aged man scowled at them from over by the vegetables but they just breezed on by, completely oblivious that anyone was paying attention to them. In the alcohol section Dean picked up a bottle of Champagne. 

"Try to act a bit more sober" he whispered to Cas "Or they won't let us buy it.” He grinned like he'd just told Cas a secret and Cas stood more upright, giggling a bit as he pushed the corners of his mouth back in a bizzare attempt to make his face look more like it belonged to someone sober. They made their way to the till which was being run by a teenage girl who looked to be a few years younger than Cas. Dean grabbed a packet of gummy bears and placed them on the counter with the champagne. The girl smiled widely at them as she scanned the items, for a second Dean was worried she recognised him but she didn't say anything apart from 'have a wonderful evening' and handed them their shopping bags. Once they were outside again Dean pointed across the street. 

"Gotta get on that side" He said "we're taking a slight detour off the official 'epic goodbye' route but it'll be awesome and totally worth it. Or was it 'awesome goodbye'? Epic- Awesome-..." 

"It was awesome" Cas cut in, pulling Dean across the road as the lights turned green. They strolled along the sidewalk for a few more minutes, Cas finally regaining the ability to walk unaided (although Dean still didn't trust him with the champagne), until Dean stopped outside a music shop. Quite why a music shop was open at this time Cas had no idea, but nevertheless they walked inside and found themselves in a tall room decorated with various musical instruments and stacks of music books. Dean sat Cas down on one of the piano stools and places the shopping bag at his feet before wandering off into the shop. Cas heard some strumming sounds and the hum of muted conversation as he gazed around the shop. There were so many different instruments here, it was a musicians dream: brand new electric guitars, sprawling grand pianos, shiny brass horns, old antique violins that looked as though they’d be perfectly at home under the arm of Sherlock Holmes. It almost put Cas on edge, all this musical potential surrounding him in complete silence. 

A while later Dean reappeared from the back of the shop, a brown acoustic guitar slung over his shoulder by a multi-coloured woven strap. Cas went to speak but Dean put a finger to his lips and held out his hand, which Cas took despite being now perfectly able to walk. Out of the shop Dean led them down a small alleyway between two café’s. 

Cas followed behind him in silence, trying to figure out where they were headed next. And why had Dean bought a guitar? Maybe he needed a new one, but why on earth would he buy it now? Like, who even does that? People who don't have a preference on orange juice that's who.  
Cas' alcohol impaired brain stumbled over the reasoning for their slight detour to the music shop. The supermarket bag which he was now carrying had already begun to feel very heavy. Maybe he should drink some champagne to make it lighter?

"Dean where are we-" he stopped as they rounded a corner, a vast stretch of sand lounged before them. The ocean glittered in the moonlight, just beyond it. The two of them crossed over the road and stepped out onto the cool sand. Dean tried balancing on one leg to take his shoes off but immediately went toppling over, landing on his butt with a thud. 

"Don't try that dude, it doesn't work very well" he giggled, continuing to remove his worn Converses followed by a pair of dinosaur socks. 

"Nice footwear" Cas smirked, taking a seat next to Dean and undoing the laces in his own shoes. 

"Hell yeah it is man. No matter how far you go in life or how successful you become, make sure you keep wearing dinosaur socks. You don't want to reach a stage where you can’t find it in yourself to do that. Have fun, don't take life too seriously... Always remember that Cas, never stop wearing dinosaur socks". Dean stuffed said dinosaur into his shoes and stood up, holding out a hand to help Cas up. The two of them wandered along the beach for a while, listening to the calming sound of the waves, until Cas flopped down onto the sand. 

"If I carry that bottle any further my arm's going to fall off" 

Dean sat down next to him, laying the guitar in front of them and picking up the champagne bottle. 

"To awesome and memorable goodbyes!" He said, shaking it until the cork flew out, landing a few feet out to sea. Dean took a long swig before passing the bottle to Cas, who took several small sips and then placed it in the sand between them. The beach was almost empty expect for a silhouetted couple on a night time walk, following the curve of the water away from Dean and Cas. Even though they could still hear the sounds of the city behind them it was muted and quiet, Cas swore he could hear the sound of the champagne bubbles popping. They each took another few mouthfuls of champagne before laying back on the sand, gazing up at the clear sky above them. 

"I love looking up at the sky" Dean said after a while. "When we first started touring and I was suddenly spending every few nights in a new town... I got pretty homesick. Of course I had Sammy there which made it more bearable, but it was still hard to adjust to. Then one night I wandered up to the hotel roof and lay down on it, staring up at the sky like we are now, and I looked at the moon and all the stars. That moon is the same moon that every single person looks up at, wherever they are in the world. And those stars? Each one of them has its own little galaxy like ours, stretching off into infinity. And I realised that really, I wasn't that far from home, the whole planet was tiny and I was an insignificant dot in the middle of a vast universe. That's the most terrifying thought, but also the most comforting." The waves gently crashed onto the beach, filling the silence around them. Dean took a breath before speaking again. "Sometimes you can feel so significant though. As if the whole world is spinning for you. Right there for a few moments you're what gives earth it's place in the universe. It goes in a flash, but for those few moments? You feel significant." A warm breeze floated past, whistling over the top of the half-empty champagne bottle. 

"Dean?" Cas said softly, gazing out into the night "I feel significant". 

The two of them lay there in silence, occasionally taking another sip of champagne and smiling as the bubbles exploded in their mouths. Suddenly Cas remembered the guitar and sat up with a jolt. 

"Dean! You can sing me a song! You have a guitar!" 

Dean grinned, sitting up much more slowly. "I was wondering how long it'd take you to put that together. Turns out you weren't as sober as I thought". Cas punched him gently in the leg. 

"You were pretty gone too, and I'm just bad at making connections between things when I'm drunk. Shut up."

Dean laughed. "Mind if I finish off the champagne? I haven't played like this for a while and I feel like I'm gonna need it" Cas nodded and Dean grabbed the bottle, draining the last of the golden, bubbly contents. After waiting a few moments Dean picked up the guitar and flexed his fingers. "Sorry if I get a couple notes wrong, the last time I played this song was in a bar when I was 16." Cas watched intently as Dean began plucking out the first few notes, making it look insanely easy. He knew Dean was good but he'd only ever heard his playing or watched from afar, seeing it happen close up in real time was something else entirely. 

“Picture yourself in a boat on a river  
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies  
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly  
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes.”

The guitar and Dean flowed together, perfectly complimenting each other’s sound. As he got further into the song (and the rest of the champagne worked its way through his body) Dean loosened up and bit and became less conscious that someone was watching him. By the time he reached the final 'ah' he was smiling, surprised by how comfortable he felt. Looking up he saw Cas quietly sat there, a mixture of awe and content painted a across his face. 

"I can play something else if you want" he said, warming to the idea of doing more songs. Cas nodded and Dean launched into the beginning of ‘Thankyou’, one of his favourite Led Zep songs. It was one of the first songs he'd ever learnt to play so he knew it like the back of his hand. Afterwards Cas suggested another song and they carried on like this for a while: Dean strumming away, Cas calling out classics for him to play next, the two of them were singing along loudly. 

As he was finishing off an acoustic ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, Dean breathed a sigh of relief and slung the guitar on the sand next to him. 

"My fingers are going to fall off soon, I've already done one live show and now this. A lesser musician would have faltered before now". Cas laughed and fanned his face, both of them had warmed up considerably from the enthusiastic singing (and maybe some dancing on Cas' part). Dean cast his eyes out over the water which glistened in bright moonlight. 

"Wanna go paddling?" He asked, already rolling up his skinny jeans as best he could. Cas raised an eyebrow before doing the same, the alcohol had pretty much worn off by now so he didn't have to worry about one of them falling over and drowning. "Race you!" Dean shouted, dropping his jacket on the sand as sprinting towards the blue water. Cas shouted something about an unfair start and went chasing after Dean. The two of them splashed into the water one after the other, unsuccessfully trying to keep their clothes dry. 

"Hey look" Dean said, pulling something out of the water "It's the champagne cork." He held it up for Cas to see and tossed it over to him. "It's supposed to be good luck to keep them. Ash hoards his religiously, writes the date and event on every cork in sharpie. Must have hundreds by now." Cas smiled, pocketing the cork. Come to think of it that was a pretty cool idea. 

"Oh god don't you become a cork hoarder too!" Dean teased, splashing water towards Cas. Cas raised an eyebrow and sent back a stronger spray of water, catching the bottom of Deans t-shirt. Before they knew what was happening the two of them were having a full blown water fight, gigantic splashes of water were flying in every direction and their clothes were soaked through. 

"I surrender!" Cas shouted, his vision obscured by the damp hair falling infront of his eyes. Dean laughed and wiped his own hair off his face. They made matching sets of soggy footprints as they both walked back to their spot on the beach. Thankfully the air was still fairly warm so it wasn't too cold to be sat in their sopping wet clothes.

"This is not what it looks like" Cas said as he pulled his shirt off, wringing out the excess water and dropping it in the empty supermarket bag. 

"Well if you wanted to go to get out of here you need only have asked" Dean joked. Cas stuck his tongue out and zipped up his nice, dry hoodie. "Actually that's a pretty good idea" Dean said, reaching to remove his own shirt. Cas stopped himself from taking a sharp breath. Dean Winchester was shirtless, right in front of him, and damn did he look good. Dean glanced up to see Cas staring. "Would you prefer it if I left my jacket off?" Cas blushed and Dean smirked. 

"I can't help it! You're Dean Winchester! If you take off your shirt, pretty much anyone's gonna stare, it's a fact of life". 

"You're not so bad yourself you know" Dean replied, causing Cas to blush even more. "Your cute, geeky vibe is deceiving." 

"Shut up and put your jacket on". 

Dean chuckled just as Cas' stomach let out a low rumble. They'd both forgotten about the gummy bears until now so Cas picked them up off the sand and tore them open, stuffing several in his mouth at once. 

"Is it dangerous to lie down and eat gummy bears?" He asked, turning to Dean who, unfortunately, now had his jacket on. Cas smiled at how natural and chilled he looked; his damp hair was endearingly messy and he looked fresh and awake from the cool saltwater. Cas subconsciously moved a hand to his own hair, finding it in equal disarray. Dean lay down on the sand and took a handful of gummy bears. 

"Possibly, but what's life without a little risk eh?"

Cas lay back too, both of them once more lying down gazing up at the stars. It would be sunrise soon, the sky was just beginning to lighten and the air was warming up. 

"Did you ever used to worry that the world was just going to swallow you up? I mean, before you got famous. Were you afraid that you'd just be another brick in the wall, that your dreams would drift away from you and you'd end up working 5 days a week in an office leading a boringly average life until you died, with nothing but an existence to look back on?" 

There was a rustle of plastic. "I still do sometimes. It’s great to be famous and loved by loads of fans, but sometimes you worry that you're just gonna end up being some sell out that people forget. As a musician you want to stand out, you want to be something new, you want kids in 50 years time to be listening to your songs on a vintage iPod saying 'Damn, I wish I was born back then'. But then I think about how many people's lives I've changed, how many people will remember me for a good long time regardless of how well I do in the future. You're not really gone until people forget about you. I guess the way to not be swallowed up by the world is to make sure you’re remembered..."

"But what if no one remembers me?" 

Dean rolled over to face Cas who stayed staring out at the stars. "You're a lot more interesting than you seem to think Cas. I don't know about the rest of the world, but I'll remember you. That must count for something right?" Cas remained silent. 

It quiet except for the occasional rustle of plastic over the rhythmic sound of waves in the background. They watched the sky get slowly paler until, without them realising, the sun was just peeping out above the sea. Sadly they’d run out of gummy bears, something Cas blamed Dean for because he swore he'd only had a few.

"I'd better get over to the airport" Dean said reluctantly "My flight's in two hours and I need to get changed and grab the picnic basket off the roof before someone finds it and gets very confused". Despite this neither of them could bring themselves to move. 

"Tonight was so amazing Dean. I can't thank you enough, it was incredible. Operation 'Give Cas an awesome memorable goodbye' was very successful."

"You don't need to thank me Cas, I thought it was pretty awesome too."

"I guess you didn't expect to be lying on a beach eating gummy bears with some crazy fan instead of being fast asleep in your next hotel" Cas said with a chuckle. 

"What about lying on a beach eating gummy bears with a friend?" 

Cas whipped his head round. "Did you just Legolas me?" 

Dean smirked "Wow way to distract from the lovely sentiment I just offered you Gimli" 

Cas rolled his eyes. "You are such a big nerd"

"Dude I was wearing a Star Wars onesie when we met. Kinda delayed realisation there" Dean jumped up to avoid the poke Cas was aiming for his ribs. Cas pushed himself up and brushed the sand from his jeans. 

"Do you really mean that? Just... Be honest if this is the last time we'll ever talk and you're actually planning on changing your number when you get off the plane" Cas' face looked so unsure and dejected that Dean reached over and pulled him into large hug, made slightly awkward by Cas' arms being pinned to his sides because he wasn't expecting it. 

"Dude. I'm being entirely serious. You are one of the most intriguing and amazing and funny people I've met in a while. Y'know, I don't actually tend to rearrange flights and plan awesome goodbyes for people unless I really like them." He winked and shoved a twenty dollar bill into Cas' palm. "Get a cab home and text me so I know you made it." Cas watched as Dean ran up the beach and hailed a cab. His brain was struggling to handle everything that had happened in the past 12 hours, as if it was only now realising how brilliantly ridiculous it all was. In a daze he picked up the empty champagne bottle and gummy bear bag. Dean had also left behind the guitar, and the plastic bag contained his shirt as well as Cas' (Cas wasn't going to deny that he found it pretty cool he was now in possession of a t-shirt belonging to Dean Winchester. Also, it was a pretty cool t-shirt, BOC merch was hard to get hold of). He slung the guitar over his shoulder and took the bag in his other hand. There were a couple of bins on the edge of the beach which he dropped the rubbish in before hailing his own cab. The driver didn't give him a second glance as Cas climbed in and told him his address, he'd almost certainly had weirder people in his cab with stranger situations than this. As the car pulled away from the sidewalk Cas leaned his head against the window, letting his eyes droop closed. He had a massive grin on his face that wouldn't go away no matter how hard he tried, and in the end he gave up and let it sit there.


End file.
